In process automation field devices perform predetermined measurement, control and regulation tasks at the sites at which they are installed in the process. One example of this is measurement of a substance passing through a pipe. In this case the field devices often rely on additional information from their immediate process environment. The information needed can relate to the installation site, to the bus address or process parameters provided for the field device, as in the example of an ultrasound flow measuring transducer, the nominal diameter and the material of the pipe carrying the substance on which the measuring transducer is mounted or which as a measuring tube represents a component of the measuring transducer and is installed with this in the process. Previously the information about the components of field devices was recorded during their manufacture or upgrading and stored as data in the field devices. The other information relevant for the field device from the process environment is recorded immediately before or after installation of the field device and supplied to it via its bus interface. The bus address of the field device must also be recorded at this time. This was previously done in an on-site operation or for each individual field device via its bus interface, whereby in the latter case the field devices are connected individually and the relevant bus address is assigned to them thereafter by corresponding software.
Identification systems operating with transponders and a read or read/write unit, especially including RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), systems, and also their use in access control, animal identification, vehicle immobilizers, waste disposal systems and in industrial production are generally known.